NYK tugboat completes last LNG bunkering before ammonia conversion

The Sakigake, an LNG-fueled tugboat operated by the NYK Group’s Shin-Nippon Kaiyosha, has undergone its last bunkering as an LNG vessel at the Yokohama Shinko pier before its conversion to an ammonia-fueled vessel.

Since entering service in 2015, the tugboat has completed 183 bunkering operations. Following this final LNG bunkering, the tugboat will be converted in this autumn and recommissioned next year as an ammonia-fueled vessel. The conversion project will be carried out by Keihin Dock – an NYK company – following the signing of a contact in August 2022. The conversion will reduce the Sakigake’s greenhouse gas emissions.

The conversion is part of a development project initiated by NYK and IHI Power Systems in October 2021 to equip vessels with a domestically produced ammonia-fueled engine, as part of the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization’s Green Innovation Fund Project.